Traction device



April 10, 1928.

s. a. SCHOLZ TRACTION DEVICE Filed Oct. 18. 1923' Patented Apr. 10, 1928.

UNITED S A-res SAMUEL G. SCHOLZ, OF HUTCHINSON, KANSAS.

R TIO DEVICE- Application filed October 18, 1923. Serial No. 669,198,

The present invention relates to traction devices of the kind used on the wheels of vehicles in places where the smooth surface of the tire of a Wheel would not be sufficient to obtain the necessary traction whereby the vehicle may be moved.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide a novel traction device in the nature of a clamp capable of being readily attached and detached to and from the tire of a wheel by the use of one hand, such that when being attaehedto the tire of an automobile wheel, the same may be connected or disconnected by the use of one hand only and while the person so connecting or disconnecting it may stand upon-the running board or other parts of an automobile without necessitating the operator standing in the mud or other undesirable place for effecting the connecting or disconnecting of the device; to provide such device with a' unitary and rigid shoe or traction ember capable of being clamped to the outer surface or periphery of the tire of the wheel; to provide the same with a clamping means preferably having a lever formed with a cam acting against a connecting member, such as a link, so that upon the initial or first movement of thelever the cam will act to rapidly take up the slack in the clamping means, and then slowly and forcibly tightening the clamping means so that the traction member Will, not be displaced or slide upon the surface of the tire; to provide such device with means so that the stress of reaction, when the clamp is tightened, wil no b ffective again t the wooden felly of the wheel but will be received by themetal rim, thus protecting the wooden felly and making theclamping device all the more efficient; to so construct the device that the reaction stress will not be ultimately received or felt upon the clamping lever but will be taken up or received by the link resting positively upon the clamping member and hence reacting directly upon the rim of the wheel; to provide the clamping member with means to receive the link after the lever has performed its operation of transferring the link to the bracket at the end of the clamping operation; to provide the clamping means, preferably the bracket member and the lever, with co operating members, such as enlargements or bosses upon the bracket member and resilient spring extensions or wings on the lever so that the wings will be caused to forcibly move over with frictional engagement over the bosses and ultimately take place behind the bosses so that the lever cannotmove into disengaging position of its own accord, yetpermitting a forcible nianual movement of the lever when it is desired to disengage the clamping means; and to provide such other and further objects, advantages and capabilities as will later more fullv appear and are inherently possessed by the invenwo In the drawings illustrating a preferred form of the invention, Fig. 1 is a transverse.

sectional view of a tire and wheel showing the clamping mechanism in clamped posi tion; Fig. 2 is a side view of the same and of a fragment of the tire and wheel; Fig. 9 e

spective of the bracket and a part ofthe clamping lever; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of an end of the bracket and the cooperating end of the lever, showing the par s in l mpeclpo i i n; and, Fig/ is a c ion, take n line 55 of Fig:

Referring more particularly to the drawings, which show-a preferred form or em? bodiment of the invention, there is shown a shoe comprising a tire support or sole 1 to which is rigidly fixed or fastened a cleat 2 having a base, flange 3 suitably secured to the sole 1, as by riveting, brazing, welding or o herw e, and d ally e te d ng ange r ction member t, Both the $0101 and the cleat 2 are concaved so as to fit transversely over the curved surface or periphery f h i e, ch as a ub er ir of an automobile wh e At th pp ite ds. of he clea me b r r provided a plurality of perforat ons or holesb and 6 into any one of either of which may be selectively connected, depending upon the size f the Wheel, l nk 7 n 8, 1 inksib iiig pre erably U-Shaped and having their free nd ex en ng nw rdly toward the axis of the wheel for connection to a supporting member or bracket 9, preferably made of metal, such as malleable iron. The bracket is of substantially U-shape having a pair of legs 10 and 11 the ends of which are adapted to seat or bear against the inner periphery or surface of the metal rim 12 of the wheel. The bracket is also designed so that the legs, as well as the cross member of the bracket will be spaced fromthe wooden felly 13 of o is a detailed view in disassembled perin place, will be taken up by the metal rinr of the wheel without there occurring any give as would be present if the bracket were to bear against the telly 13.

At one endofthe bracket 9 is formed or provided an ear1l having a pair of perforations or holes 15 for receiving the hooked ends 16 of the link 8, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing. At the other end of the bracket is provided a projection or car 16 and a concaved portion 17 to form a shoulder upon which maybe supported the free end of the link 7 as willbe more clearly described hereinafter. To the car 16 is pivotallyconnected a suitable lever 18,Which is preferably ofsheet metal bent and shaped to suitable form, the lever being pivot-ally connected tothe ear 16 by means of a pivot pin 19fittingin a perforation 20 formed in the ear 16. The side portions of the lever 18 arepret'erably provided with cam portions or surfaces 21 against which the free end 22 of the'link 7 is adapted to operate when the device is being operated. The sides of the lever also extend laterally beyond the pivot; 19 to form a pair of resilient or spring wings 23 capable of engaging with and riding over enlargements orbosses 24 formed on the side of the legslO of the bridge or bracket member 9. At the rear endof the cams 21,the lever is provided with guards 25 against which the end 22 of the link 7 may contactand which also aids in holding the linkin position upon the cams when it is desired to clamp the device in place.

Thepart-s of the clamp may be stored in a tool box on the automobileor any other desired place, and when ready to be used, the

link 8 may be passed through one of the perforations 6, depending upon the size of tire upon which the clamp is to be used, and then the bracket member connectedto the link Sby passing the'hooked ends 16'through the perforations 15. The operator may then,such as standing on a run-board of the automobile, place the shoe 1 upon the tire'of tliewlieel, and with the link 8, bracket 9 and lever 18, in depending position, he may then move thelever, together with the bracket 9 and link 8, into the space between a pair of spokes and insert the handle end of the lever through the link 7, until the cams 21 come in contact with the end 22 of the link 7. In this position the brackets will be straddling the fellyto bebrought into bearing contact with theinnersurface of the rim 12. The lever may then be operated by the hand, the cams edges 21 acting atfirstto quickly draw or pull upon the link 7 for taking up looseness or slack in the mechanism or device, in general. This quickly brings the legs 10 and llinto contactwith the rim 12. Further movement of the lever will cause the end 22 of the link to ride over that portion of the cam which will now apply greater force to tightly clam the device in place, the lever at the end oi its movement, depositing or placing the end 22 of the link upon the shoulder 17 of the bracket, the wings 23 in the meanwhile being flexibly forced over the bosses 24 and dropping into the spacebehind the bosses as clearly shown in Figsfll and 5 of the drawing. In this position the link 7 is pulling against the shoulder17 and there is no stress upon the lever 18 whatever. In this "way there is no tendency to cause the, lever to bethrown out of clamping position. Thefresistance offered by the bosses24 againstthe wings 23 Will also preventthe lever l8 from being thrown out of c'lampingjposition'of its own accord.

With the deyice in position upon the wheel, and any number ofdevices may be attached to the wheel as desired, the cleat 2 will ofier a suflicient tractive resistance against the ground, particularly softearth or mud,so as to be able to propel thevehicle forward and be relieved of itsstalled condition ina mud-hole or similar place.

The clamp may be detachedas conven iently as it was attached by the use of one hand and with'lthe operatorstanding, if desired, upon any part of the automobile, such 7 c. 100

merely pulling the lever [18 away from the as the run-boar This maybe effected by clamp so as to cause the" endof the cam portion 21 joining with the wings 23 to lift the end 22 of thelinkQT away from the shoulder 17 and carrying it free thereof and into the curved portionof thecams toward the guards-25. The lever maythenbe lifted so thatthe links 7 may swlng free of the lever, and the bracket 9 togetherwith the lever 18 swung upon the hooks 16 and out of the space between the spokes of the wheel so that the clamping mechanism, as a whole,

may be-lifted from the tire and stored in the invention is not limited to the particular construction, details and 'arrangement of parts shown and described, .but that other and clamping means for detachably holding the memberin place, said clamping means comprising a bracket on the Wheel, said bracket provided With a lateral boss, a lever connected to the bracket and frictionally en gaging the bracket and boss whereby the lever gives to manual force but remains fixed against self movement.

2. A traction device comprising a member adapted to be clamped to the tire of a Wheel and clamping means for detachably holding the member in place, said clamping means comprising a bracket on the Wheel, the bracket being formed with a lateral boss, a lever connected to the bracket and frictionally engaging the boss for holding the lever in ultimately moved position.

3. A traction device comprising a member adapted to be clamped to the tire of a Wheel and clamping means for detachably holding the member in place, said clamping means comprising a bracket on the Wheel, a lever pivoted to the bracket and having resilient Wings, the bracket having bosses over Which the Wings flexibly move into position to hold the lever in locked position.

4;. An anti-skid device including a felly engaging member adapted to support an anti-skid element on one end, a channel shaped locking member pivotally supported to said telly member adapted to engage the free end of said anti-skid element in a manner to extend the free end thereof over the center or the pivotal support of said channel member to lock said channel member with the sides of the same engaging against each side of a portion of said telly member.

' 5. An anti-skid device comprising a telly engaging member adapted to fit over the telly of a Wheel, an eye formed on one end of said member, an arm issuing outwardly from the other end of said member, a tread member secured at one end to said eye and passing around the tire of the Wheel, a locking member pivoted to said arm and adapted to engage the other end of said tread member for detachably securing the tread member to said engaging member and said locking member provided with prongs adapted to engage each side of said arm.

6. An anti-skid device comprising a felly engaging member adapted to fit over the folly of a Wheel, an eye formed on one end of said member, an arm issuing outwardly from the other end of said memb r a tread member secured at one end to said eye and passing around the tire of the Wheel, a channel-shaped locking member pivoted to said arm and adapted to'en'gage a portion of said member under spring tension of said channel member and a pair of prongs formed on said channel member adapted to lie approximat-ely parallel With said arm when said locking member is in closed position.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name to this specification.

' SAMUEL G. SCHOLZ. 

